NICE OBSERVATION on the Bush space proposal:

Setting up a permanent base on the Moon — Bush is expected to call for a return in about 10-15 years — and then reaching for Mars does not require any outlandish hike in NASA’s budget.

Beyond a modest 5 percent increase that Bush will reportedly announce Wednesday, getting people beyond Earth orbit means shifting the existing budget from arguably ineffective and unpopular programs — crippled shuttles and a leaking space station — into building a new generation of space taxis and other worldly habitats.

He’s also rather hard on space-critic Will Marshall of the Progressive Policy Institute: “Marshall’s criticism is either uninformed or patently political, or both.”

Read the whole thing. I’ve got more observations on Mars missions over at GlennReynolds.com.